How to use Credit Notes?

This type of invoice errors could be a common mistake and one should know how to use credit notes to rectify the errors. You can write a credit memo on the reverse side of the sales invoice and it may include the following three sections: Header, Body & Footer.

Header of a Credit Note: This is the top part of your credit note, which may include the following components:

1. Your Company details: You need to provide all relevant company info, such as the name of the company, address, phone and fax numbers, website etc. In many countries, it is also important to include the business registration details and Sales & Service Tax numbers.

2. The heading should be “Credit Note”, helping the customer to notice it quickly and clearly.

3. Credit Note Number, a unique serial number that you will allocate in order to quickly identify a credit note sent to a particular customer.

6. Customer Reference Number: If you are using any such number to identify your customer, you need to mention it on your credit memo.

7. Customer name and address.

Body of a Credit Note: Here, you need to mention everything about the invoice error and the reasons behind issuing the credit note. Clearly mention the error, such as wrong pricing or wrong product quantity or any other mistake. Then, mention the correct amount and the adjustments need to be carried out in the original invoice that you already have sent to the customer.

Footer of a Credit Note

1. All items, their individual prices and the total amount

2. Taxes, if applicable

3. Total after adding taxes

4. Any comment that you need to add, such as how the amount will be adjusted. For example, any surplus amount could be deducted in the next payment cycle, or the deficit amount can be added in the next payment cycle.

Writing a credit note is not a herculean task, and you can simply use a word processor or a spreadsheet to write your credit memo. However, you may experience some difficulties while using these software programs to prepare your credit memo. For example, adjusting amounts by deducting sales values of different items could prove a tedious task. At the same time, you need to search invoices and credit notes again and again to reconcile them and complete the task.

Today, there are several e-Invoicing and billing solutions available that can make your credit note issuing task a lot easier as well as efficient. You can use the inbuilt credit note feature and issue a credit memo related to a particular invoice, without any hassles.